


do I ever cross your mind?

by shuturfudge



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Psychics/Psionics, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Past Allura/Lance (Voltron), Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, Time Travel, Witches, lance gets a cat, not a fix it more of a what happened after
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 15:51:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17124272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuturfudge/pseuds/shuturfudge
Summary: After the death of Allura, Lance cuts his friends and family out of his life until he stumbles upon a cure to mend all his woes, traveling back to the beginning to fix it all.





	do I ever cross your mind?

1 Year after the death of Allura  
SOHO, Manhattan  
11:34 pm

Of all the things Lance had prepared himself to encounter after touching back down on Earth, he had failed to realize the true strain of not being with his Space Family. Or more importantly of them being up there, perfectly fine in their own little universes, while he was left alone to wander. His family’s farm was fun for all of two weeks. Two weeks of truly mourning Allura. Two weeks of crying into his pillow. Two weeks of feeling nothing. And then it just hurt. Being around people who loved you for someone you no longer were, pretending to be normal, he couldn’t do it.

So after two horrible weeks, he left. Packed his bags, hugged his mama and Marco and everyone else, a skedaddled out. He took some time to travel, explore the world. After visiting so many alien planets and unusual things, he though Earth would be less surprising. He was wrong.

His first visit was to Germany, Berlin and then traveled down to Frankfurt. Germany was good for drinking and girls. And when Lance met a couple boys too, he didn’t complain. Her loved Germany at night under the snow. Christmas markets popped up everywhere and being surrounded by such festive joy had left him incapable of deterring his rising mood. But after a couple of weeks of AirBnBs and enamoring boys, he left.

He found himself in Amsterdam, just a train ride away from Frankfurt. Amsterdam had pills of every colors and museums to wander the day in. Lance fucking loved Amsterdam like many of the tourists before him. But something was missing, someone was missing. Before the emptiness could catch up to his travels, he ran again.

The next month was spent in Paris. Here he spent his days reading on the river Seine. It was a quiet moment where he found most of his time alone. Unlike Germany and Amsterdam there weren’t any pills of boys, just him. He drank coffee in the morning and followed stray cats in the evening, always wandering. He almost got a job, almost decided to stay. But that too was dangerous. So he resolved to come back after he figured it all out. He had always been good at language, and parisian french was picked up quickly after already being fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and English. The trains next stop was in London.

Oswald and Liv lived in a two bedroom flat in Camden. Oswald was a tall guy from Sweden who never really shut up while Liv was a small mousy haired girl from Spain. Lance had known them from school. While he hadn’t stayed in touch during the whole, ‘I’m in space’ thing, they welcomed him with open arms. Oswald and him wandered the Camden market and talked about life in general. They humored his quest to belong, and were there for him when he had cracked again. He said goodbye and caught a plane to Kyoto the next morning.

Kyoto was gorgeous. The food was amazing and the flight to Shanghai was reassuring. Shanghai became Rio, where he put his portuguese to good use, and from there he visited Port a Viarta, stayed at a spa, got a facial, left again. Found himself in San Diego. Los Angeles. San Francisco. Austin. Chicago. Providence. Boston. Manhattan. 

At this point Earth was becoming a bit predictable. While each city had its own language and culture, there were cosmic constants. None of them were his Space Family though.

He hadn’t met anyone like Hunk, someone so full of sunshine and kindness. He missed Hunk’s cooking and reassurance that, “no Lance it’s okay to be upset”. He missed talking about surfing when they got home. The thing is the second did get home, Lance KNEW Hunk wasn’t staying. Just like he knew one day everyone would leave. Or more so everyone would keep going while Lance ran in place.

He wasn’t even sure he could find someone like Pidge on Earth. I mean it wasn’t like he spent his time seeking out intellectuals or sisters from another mister. Because he wasn’t. But the fact remained that he missed her yelling at him. She was small enough to tuck under his jaw and hold her when she couldn’t find Matt and her dad. He missed comforting her and teasing her. 

Coran was a fucking alien so there was no way he could find him down here. Just finding someone with a moustache the same horrendous shade of orange could take a lifetime. Factor in the personality and it was impossible. Coran was a hard man to miss, he had taken on a uncle status in his heart. But Coran had no reason to stay on Earth, neither did Romelle for that matter. 

Shiro would have stayed if Adam was still here. That was the truth. Shiro stayed out there for Keith and Allura’s memory, because the Earth where Adam and him had first fallen in love was good as empty without him. Anyways he had Curtis now, another Garrison Employee to catch Shiro’s heart. It would have been too much to ask Shiro to stay. Just like it would have been too much to ask anyone to stay.

Even if Allura was alive she wouldn’t have stayed. Her place was up there with the rest of them. It had taken a long time for Lance to realize Allura was never his. In all honesty she was probably more so Lotor’s by the time she had passed. Lance and Allura relationship was a lot of things. A rebound, a confirmation that Allura deserved love, an excuse to settle, but it wasn’t a mutual passion. And Lance knew he was fated to love Allura more that she was capable of loving him. During the relationship, this fact didn’t even bother him, he was totally fine with it. But now? Now he wanted more. He wanted someone who could push when he pushed, who could throw back whatever was thrown. He wanted love. More, more, more, than what he was given.

Fucking Keith. He missed Keith most. That dumbass mullet who knew the right words. That asshole emo who would fight with everything he had. Keith was so fucking infuriating and amazing and horrible and probably his best friend. But no, fuck Keith. He was proud of him for where he was now, for turning down the opportunity to lead the Galra, for finding a family. The only infuriating thing was that where Lance had lost every-fucking-thing, where Keith had gained every-fucking-thing, where Lance wasn’t even mad about it, the fact was he was only overwhelmingly happy. For him. Fuck Keith.

So walking down the streets of SOHO alone hurt. Just a little.

Lance wasn’t sure if this was another one of those, I’m going to get drunk and sleep with a bunch of men because I just sorta figured out I’m bisexual cities, or if it was a I’m going to crying on a river and read love poetry in spanish by Neruda because fuck Neruda cities. Obviously there were only two options.

He found himself walking uptown, towards Hell’s Kitchen. So far he had been staying in the hipster part of SOHO (which was all of SOHO if he was being honest) and had picked up the job of working front desk at the tattoo parlor below his AirBnB. Most of the other front desk attendances were apprentices to the actual artists, which meant most of them were fairly spunky. During his time there he had even gotten tattooed, a full sleeve of fish, sharks, and jellies swimming through the solar system. It was well worth the grand he blew on it. He even considered becoming an apprentice after it had been done, it was that awesome, that was until he realized he had no artistic talent whatsoever, which was fine. Mostly.

HONK!

“Watch it ASSHOLE!”, an Uber shouted at him. Yeah that sounds about right. Lance just kept on trudging. It was a Monday, his day off, and everyone seemed a bit tense. Which was saying something when you lived in New York.

It was autumn now. The leaves were crisp and brown, the tourists had mostly scattered, and the days were becoming shorter. Peaceful almost. The brownstone townhouses and local students at NYU reminded Lance of what he had missed out on. Maybe if he hadn’t seen Keith’s dumbass mullet that night, things would have been different. He probably would have never met Allura in that life time. The whole chosen one paladin thing would have never happened either. Which would have been a good thing, right?

As Lance had walked past a Psychic, he had taken a second thought and backtracked. The storefront itself was tucked into what had used to have been an industrial space, and the aesthetic was kinda strange. Unlike most witchcraft, voodoo doll, cosmic whatevers, this one was rather well organized. Books that looked like non fictions in the Amazon Bookstore were labeled as “How to align your spirit self”, and other things like that. The glass front exposed the interior, brick painted over white, soy candles tucked into corners, and a curly haired boy scrolling through his phone at the front desk.

Curiously, he decided to walk in.

As the front door open, the boy glanced up. He had gorgeous brown eyes, the shade of the Redwoods in California. The white shirt he wore read, “I can’t see straight”, which paired nicely with the Warby Parker lenses perched on his nose.

Lance snorted as he made his way towards the desk. 

“Sorry, I just walked by and was curious, this isn’t like the normal psychic businesses I’ve seen before,”

“Well were not just psychics here, we also have two witches, a mage, and a palm reader on staff. We also live in the gentrified part of Manhattan, so Soy Candles keep us in business.”

Lance snorted, this guy was honest if anything.

“So do you have any witches around today, I wanted to get a . . . consultation to see if a problem I have could be fixed with some magic.” 

“As long as your problem isn’t your dick then I can schedule you in for the noon consultation space, actually on second thought May can voodoo Viagra or something, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“Uh, not sure what to say about that but, it’s . . . not a dick problem?”

“You don’t sound sure,”

“It’s not a dick problem, okay?”

He rolled his eyes and rang Lance up before he pointed to some white cushions to wait on. Lance made his way towards them, only stopping to look at a book on spirit guides, which was strangely interesting to him. The content kinda reminded him of his relationship with blue and red.

Shortly after, he was ushered into a room in the back. The room was lit by fairy lights draping from the ceiling. Two chairs sat facing each other in the center of the room surrounding a rectangular glass desk. On the further chair a girl around his age was waiting. She had dark skin and dreads that had been dyed a light blue. It kinda reminded him of Allura.

“Hi Lance, my name is Nicky and I’ll be helping you today, what’s troubling you?”, she spoke with a bubbly voice laced with a slight Californian accent. 

“Hey, I’m Lance. I don’t really wanna spill all of my troubles on you but basically I’ve been traveling a lot and at first it was because I didn’t belong where I was before, but it’s mostly turned into running at this point? Anyways I guess I just want to go back to before I was a different person so things could work again. I miss my old family a lot but everything is so different. Bad different. I want what I used to have back.” The more he spoke the softer his words got. Talking about everything that happened was a sure way to get him crying or running again.

“So is the problem that it happened or what has happened after, like do you wish you could go back in time and make thing different or insure that people didn’t treat you different after?”

“I wish I could go back.”

“Can I ask you why?”

“I guess I fell in love with the wrong person, and after she died I forgot what it meant to be okay. And the whole time I was falling in love with the right person, but I never told him.”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“I was 17, which was around 3 years ago.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”, with a wink, she left the room.

Lance glanced around the space, shifting uncomfortably every now and then. Mostly because this whole situation was a bit weird. Seeing someone who looked so much like his dead ex felt weird. The crystals and cute employees were weird. 

As she entered the room again, Lance noticed her caring a small lavender bag full of spices and herbs. She sat back down in her seat and slid the pouch to him.

“Okay so I’ve spelled it to my liking, now all we need is an anchor, someone who has your heart and soul. They don’t have to be physically close to you, any type of relationship will do as long as it transcends space and time, ha, just kidding. Sorta.”, she said the last part under her breath.

“So someone who means everything to me?”

“Yup, someone you would bottle every ocean for, someone you would collect every star just to see smile.”

“A person who fills me with the warmth of a red dwarf, who could talk about constellations until we both died and I would still love them?”

“Uh huh, someone who is everything your not, who you don’t resent only admire.”

“What if he’s just the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen, whose put up with me even when I wouldn’t wanna put up with me. Would it work if them leaving felt worse than any death, if them looking at me with disappointment filled me with shame I’ve never tasted before?”

“Uh, yeah, yup, him, think of him and it should work.”

“How do you know it’s a boy, is that a witch thing?”

“No it’s just a, you said and I quote, ‘he’s just the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen’, so I’m guessing it’s a boy.”

“Oh, right. Cool. Thanks.”

She gave him a polite smile.

And with that Lance left. Once he had made it back onto the streets he booked it out of Hell’s Kitchen. He stopped on the way to grab some Lunch and by the time he had made it back to the AirBnB, it was starting to get dark out.

He promptly placed the pouch under his pillow. His mind was reeling with possibilities, he had seen to much of the world (read universe) to be a skeptic at this point. That didn’t mean Earth wasn’t full of fakes, but he wanted to believe it was true, that her words and spices were actually magic. 

He tottered around the apartments thinking things over for a couple more hours before making his way back to bed.

As his head hit the pillow he thought about amethyst eyes and soft lips, of all the promises he could keep given another chance.

And he slept.

The world spun into a new day. And then it didn’t.

-

 

 

When Lance woke up, it wasn’t to Manhattan. There weren’t any cars honking downstairs, no tattoo parlor opening its doors, in fact it was almost silent. The only noise creeping out from under his door was of kids. Kids!

He opened his eyes to his garrison bedroom.

To confirm his suspicion he pushed himself out of bed and headed towards the garrison mandated mirror. And there he was, 17 year old Lance, no tattoos on his muscular arms only blank noodles. Which was a good thing, mostly? He had gotten what he wanted, a blank slate, but now what?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Lance! Dude where were you at dinner?”

Hunk.

Lance opened the door to his 17 year old best friend. The whole experience was a bit out of body, seeing people deage and all that. Strange. As Lance took more time to blatantly stare at his younger friend, Hunk grew uncomfortable.

“Lance?? Dude, are you good?”

That seemed to snap him out of the funk.

“Yes, good, I’m good. How are you? Are you good?”

“No dude you left me alone with Allie! In what universe would I be good!”

“Allie. . . right. Yes Allie.”

Who was Allie, Lance thought. He traced his memories trying to remember a classmate named Allie. Nope. 

“Dude I was going to ask her out with the flowers, that you were supposed to bring, the flowers Lance!”, Oh that Allie, Lance thought. The Allie that brutally rejected Hunk the first 50 times he asked until taking shears to the roses Hunk gave her the night they left. Great this again. At least he knew when and where he was. The night of the instigation.

“Sorry your girlfriend didn’t get her roses, Hunk”

“She’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a girl! That I admire very much!”

“Right, hey do you know where Katie is?”

Lance scrumaged his closet for a better outfit, if he was going to be stuck in space he was going to look good. Sue him. He grabbed his cropped red sweatshirt with a little NASA logo on the top right corner, some black sweatpants, Old School Vans, a black jacket to tie around his waist and some hair dye for later, maybe, and threw them on while Hunk continued to splutter.

“Who the hell is Kathy, dude are you okay? Really your naked now wow.”

Lance grabbed his phone to send off a text to his parents. At least it was something this time.

“Katie not Kathy, oh wait okay no, do you know where Pidge is?”

He continues to go through his room, quickly grabbing a polaroid camera, a black beanie and a black backpack, a quick thought that he was matching Keith made him smile a little. Going through his memories he tried to think of some necessities, he grabbed “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” for Keith, he was on the autistic spectrum and had once told Lance about his love of the book. He also grabbed his sparkly red limited edition Starbucks cup and some instant coffee to give to Pidge so she could recreate it in space. He also grabbed an empty sketchbook and some pens (for Keith) and ukulele in its case. While Lance remember this night going a bit bumpy, he thought the ukulele could make it out fine.

Which meant, exhibit A, he could play, and exhibit B, he could play for some certain people.

“Why do you need him when you should be explaining what happened with the flowers! Dude you know I’m in love with Allie.”

Lance squinted. 17 year old Hunk was rather stubborn.

“Sorry about Allie, really man, we can get her some white lilies tomorrow,”

He picked up his phone again the number of his tutor, Mr. W. Quickly yammering off some spanish he made sure that whatever happened, Mr. W would be at the shack by morning. The gist was, “Takashi is going to be at the shack tomorrow, I can’t tell you how I know this and you can’t ask,”, which was totally not a crazy thing to say or do but at this point, whatever.

“The funeral flowers? Really Lance, I can’t bel-”

Lance noticing Pidge making their way to the roof and decided to follow, totally ignoring whatever Hunk was just about to say. Ouch.

“Hunk, follow me, but quietly.”, Lance whispered. Hunk, always the snoop, decided to not question him, blindly following Lance as he made his way to the roof. The only indication he was pissed, was the grumbling he was making in the back of his throat. Lance wasn’t so sure he was a fan of 17 year old Hunk at the moment.

By the time they had reached Pidge, Lance knew they were completely on schedule. 

“Pidge-Podge, looking for aliens?”

Pidge jumped, and looked worried for a second before said worry became a glare. One directed at Lance. Which totally didn’t make him shiver with fear. Nope didn’t happen.

“What do you want, Mcclain?”

“A hot alien boyfriend and a pumpkin spice latte, but they’re not in season and I don’t see any aliens so you’ll have to do.”

Pidge and Hunk raised their eyebrows at his comment, mostly thinking he was kidding. What was Mr. Lancey Lance, the self proclaimed Garrison flirt, doing going around making comments like that. Lance just shrugged it off and poked Pidge until they gave an explanation for their current activities, which like most things in Lance’s life at this point, was aliens. 

Lance’s eyes scanned out over the roof, looking for a certain desert mullet. 

“Guys! It’s Keithy!”

“Keithy?” “Is he. . . high?”

Both Hunk and Pidge ran after Lance as he sprinted like a mad man, ukulele in his arms, towards a weird building. Lance didn’t seem to realize he might not have been giving off the coolest Vibes, and just continued on his merry way towards the boy he was maybe a little bit unrequited in love with. Maybe.

When they reaches the inside they noticed a figure resting, Takashi Shirogane. Next to him was Keith Kogane, trying to pull him out of it. Younger Keith seemed to be weaker, and Shiro’s muscles were a bit heavy for him to take on by himself. Lance, ever the helpful young man with no ulterior motives, slid under Shiro’s other arm to help. Keith quickly made eye contact with Lance. While mostly confused there was a definite analysis of Lance’s body going on. Lance might have even gone so far as to label it, ‘checking him out’. Keith was the first to open his mouth, “Uh, who are you.”

“Leandro Martinez-Mcclain, I don’t think you would have remembered me, people call me Lance but I think getting Shirogane out of here might take priority over our rekindling.”

Lance was careful to not make the same mistakes of his last encounter, treading carefully on the line between flirty and friendly. Keith looked back at his with the eyes he adored, hesitating for a second before accepting the information. 

“Keith Kogane.”

“You think I would forget the most natural flyer I’ve ever seen? Keith you’re plenty unforgettable, I’ll tell you that.”

Keith’s ears turned an adorable pink as he slightly scowled, unused to this much positive attention. 

“Um, so just follow me, I guess.”, Keith almost stuttered, which was fairly amusing for Pidge and Hunk, used to Lance ranting about what a cold stone wall the guy normally was. Lance’s behavior was definitely a bit unusual to them, but Lance was normally fairly eccentric and weird, so it wasn’t that out of character.

They all followed Keith out to his hoverbike, and piled on. Hunk looked ready to puke, Pidge curious, Shiro fairly passed out still, Lance fond, and Keith - Keith looked in his element. The passion he drove with was the same he used flying, even its wildness was admirable. Or at least amusing. 

By the time they had gotten to the shack, they had all had enough excitement for one day. Keith and Hunk pulled Shiro onto a couch inside and started talking about Keith’s conspiracy board. Pidge wandered around the shack, analysing each part that made Keith call it home. 

And Lance stayed outside. He pulled himself onto a rock and slung his jack on. To pass the time he pulled his ukulele out and strummed a soft tune, Ruin by Shawn Mendes.

And, do ya?  
Do you think about me at all?  
And, do you  
Do you feel the same way? Oh, tell me, babe  
And, do ya?  
Do you remember how we felt?  
'Cause I do  
So listen to me, now  
Woah oh oh oh

As Lance sang the final chord he noticed a shift in the atmosphere. Keith was standing behind him, silently listening. Before Keith could run away, Lance turned around to ask him a question.

“How are you, between finding Shiro and being saddled with us?”  
“Well, Shiro’s awake, which is good and in the morning we’re going to investigate some cave paintings. That is if you’re in.”

Lance hummed and turned back to his uke, plucking the riff to Do I Wanna Know by the Arctic Monkeys. “I’m happy you have him back,”, he said.

“I am too, it feels like a dream. Why are you out here and not inside, it’s getting cold.”

“Worried about me Keithy?”

“What no I-”

“Chill, no I get it. I haven’t spent much time in the desert. Kinda reminds me of the ocean, so endless.”

“I come out here a lot too, I don’t play guitar or anything, but I like taking pictures. My dad taught me before he died, he was sort of an ametuer, but it makes me feel like he’s still here sometimes. Sorry, I didn’t mean to spring the dead thing on you, I just thought it applied. . . Lance?”

Lance had set his ukulele back in it’s case and was sorting through the backpack he had remembered to bring. Once he had found his target he pulled it out for him, a bulky black polaroid with a rainbow stripe racing down the middle. Slightly bashfully, he place it in Keith’s hands and the closed them over the camera. 

Smiling at the ground he said, “You can have it, I suck at photography anyways. You should bring it tomorrow, we can take pictures of the cave paintings with it. Luckily I remembered loads of its film, so you shouldn’t run out for awhile.”

Keith looked floored, completely unsure of what to make of this display. Something bubbled in his chest as his cheeks turned scarlet.

“Thanks”, he squeeked. Coughing slightly he continued with an unnaturally deep voice, “I will use this to photo, to Take PHOTO, multiple, yes. Thanks.”

Lance simply raised his eyebrow before wrapping his knees up in his arms and tucking his head down. He smiled as he gazed out into the night.

“I remember you in class, you were such a firecracker,”

“It’s how I got expelled actually,”

“I heard you punched Iverson. Which is pretty admirable in my book.”

“You have low standards then,”

“I will not hear slander on my good name, I have the highest of standards, thank you very much. I would tell you that YOU have low standards but if we intend to continue this-”

“And what is this?”

“Whatever you want Keith,”

“Whatever?”

“Well what were you thinking?”

“Things,”

“Things?”

“Things of sorts,”, Keith confirmed.

With a snort Lance said, “That sounds good to me Keith,”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

 

 

 

-  
The next time Lance woke up, it was once again to someone tapping him in the stomach. Hard. With a foot. Lifting his head to his abuser he was faced with Mr. W.. There was something weighing him down when he tried to get up, some octopus or something his drowsy brain supplied.

“Lance, baby, 5 more minutes,” responded said octopus. Huh. Well that confirmed things for Lance. 

With a roll of his eyes, he untangled him, and shook Keith. Apparently they had fallen asleep outside. Together. Whoops?

“Lancey baby, no,”, Lance raised his eyebrow and turned his head back to Mr. W who was watching the spectacle, looking slightly irritated, but mostly just confused.

“Leandro where is Mr. Shirogane. It is 6 am, you have woke my ass up, where is my dead ex fiance?”

“Inside, Ad-”, Mr. W gave him a sharp look, “Mr.W but wait-”

Mr. W spun around on his heel ignoring Lance.

“Nobody fuckin’ listens to me I swear to god,” he muttered, nuzzling back into Keith. But before he could get comfortable, he heard some shouting.

“TAKASHI DUMBASS SHIROGANE-”  
“Hey Baby”  
“DON’T YOU BABY ME TAKI, YOU WERE DEAD-”  
“Baby-”  
“AND THEN FUCKING MISSING-”  
“Adam, -”  
“DON’T YOU DARE, YOU ARE NEVER LEAVING MY EYESIGHT AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD”

Pidge and Hunk, woken by whatever mess of a screaming match was happening inside, trudged out the door into the desert. They both hadn’t seen Keith and Lance much after it started to get late, yet finding them curled up in eachothers arms on a rock watching the sunset made the most surprising mornings of their lives, list. As they creeped up on the pair, they noticed Lance wide awake with Keith drooling into his neck, arms clinging to Lance. And Lance, he just sat there taking it all in. Counting each thick black eyelash on his precious face. He even noticed a tiny scar under his right eye, something that looked like he got from a black eye. He felt so fulfilled and protective holding Keith like this. 

“Goodmorning Lance, did you have a nice night,”, Pidge snickered.

Lance, with his eyes still softly scanning Keith’s relaxed face responded with a, “More entracing that a supernova,”.

“Since when have you been gay?”, Hunk asked.

Lance unconsciously flinched, used to the ridicule.

“I mean, forever? I didn’t just wake up and decide, ah yes here is the day I accept the rainbow because Keith’s cheekbones are sharp enough to cut my ties with the straights. I mean. . . I’ve always known. I realized it a while ago, I just grew up Catholic and so it wasn’t really an option. I’m Bisexual and not gay, by the way.”

Keith stirred, tucking his head more forcefully into Lance, “Leandro-”, he sighed.

Lance quickly looked away with cherry cheeks, catching the gaze of Pidge.

“So you think they’ve stopped yelling in there?”

“What is Mr.W doing here anyways?”, Hunk asked.

“He’s Shiro’s ex fiance. I called him last night.”, while Lance hadn’t clarified when last night, he wasn’t really lying. 

“Well I don’t hear any more shouts from in there -”, they were interrupted by a hoverbike pulling up in front of them. Abrupt enough to make the 3 of them jerk from their seat, unfortunately waking up sleepy Keith in the process. Of course he would wake up yelling at Lance. Of course, after their cute night together, too.

“Leandro Martinez-Mcclain, what did I say about waking me up - oh, hi Adam.”

Adam simply raised his eyebrows and threw a look to Shiro, as if to say, it’s your turn to take care of our son because you left me for a year. It was actually impressive his eyebrows could speak that much by simply raising. Shiro, righteously terrified of his ex (?), gave Keith a look.

“We’re leaving in 10, you’re driving because you know the way.”

Giving one last soft look to Lance, Keith scrambled off the rock into the cabin, to collect his things. Lance decided to wander the area for a little, ignoring the pointed glares he was getting from Shiro and Adam. Lance wasn’t sure if they were trying to be subtle or not, but they obviously were protective of Keith. Even though he literally got expelled and decided to live in a shack alone without anyone stopping him. Whatever.

After walking for about a few minutes, he noticed a little black tuft of fur. Correction - a tuft of fur that was meowing. 

With the utmost care and caution, Lance bent down to get a good look at the cat. They had onyx hair that was a mess, dirt smeared into every inch of their coat, and the brightest golden eye he had ever seen. The other eye was shut, indicating a birth defect or incident. The kittens paws were tiny, but the most impressive attribute of the little cat was their tail. The tail was longer than their body, and it was curled in a manner to protect them from the harsh desert.

With a single look, Lance knew he was screwed. He would do anything for this kitten. 

He bundled the little kitten up, making sure they were supported as he walked back to Keith’s shack. The kitten was pliant in his arms, only squirming at first to get a good spot where they were both comfortable and could see where Lance was taking them. While he walked, Lance considered names for the kitten, he checked to confirmed the sex, he was a male. 

He wanted to name him something about space, but also something that reminded him of home. Something strong for the one eyed kitten left alone in the desert.

“Jupiter.”

The kitten, Jupiter, meowed back at him to confirm. With a smile, Lance gave a reassuring squeeze to Jupiter. Lost in his fond moment, he didn’t see Keith walking towards him.

“Hey Lance, I put your backpack and ukulele with my stuff in the hovercraft so we’re about to leave. Ummm, about last night, I had fun.”, Keith said sheepishly.

“Me too Keith,”, Lance gave him a fond glance before nodding for him to come closer, “Look who I found, kinda reminds me of you cute, in the desert, covered in sand-”

“Hey! Wait - cute? Oh, I think your-”

“KEITH, LANCE, GET YOUR ASS IN THE CRAFT WE’RE LEAVING”

“OH MY GOD TAKASHI WE’RE COMING, so Lance, are you going to keep him.”

They started walking towards their friends together, both leaning into each other as they walked.  
Lance, consumed with Jupiter purring in his arms, and Keith panicking over how fucking cute Lance and Jupiter were together. 

“I know what it’s like to wander without your family, and I wouldn’t want anyone to feel that way.”

Keith took a good look at the boy next to him, one full of empathy.

“I do too.”

Lance just gave Keith a smile before they climbed in with the rest of them. Shiro and Adam were together, whispering as they subconsciously leaned into each other’s space. They acting like a unit, not symbiotic or codependent, more so content in the way the moon and tides pulled. 

Pidge was shoved to edge, already looking stressed about whatever hell ride Keith was managing to pull this time. Hunk looked considerably worse, his brown features were already tinged green. 

They were all so preoccupied they hadn’t seem to notice Keith set out on his way or Lance’s new friend. Lance bathed in the contentment of having this family back again, he wasn’t sure how he would explain this to them if the asked. 

He had already had the opportunity to do this right once and he had failed, so what was he supposed to do now. Would Keith resent him for choosing wrong the first time? For being to scared? For letting him leave while he was in love with him? Maybe Keith would reject him for being so desperate to have this back, to do it right, and would tell everyone else. He didn’t want them to push him away when he needed them so much. Too much. He had experienced a year without it all. A year of cheap fucks and running before the pain could catch him. Where everyone was gone, not having left Lance, but because Lance hadn’t followed them.

He was the one who fucked up.

Before his thought could consume him they had arrived. This time felt different - something was off. Not so much wrong, just off. It was weird. Jupiter nudged him a bit until Lance set him on his shoulders. Surprisingly, the cat seemed content up there.

Lance quickly grabbed his ukulele and backpack and followed the others, startled when the blue lights had already been awoken. Shiro and Adam were pressing their hands to the walls, enamored with the brillant azule.

Keith, Pidge and Hunk were staring at the images trying to analyze their meanings. It took all of 5 seconds longer for Lance to be tossed down the cave, his crumbled form directly below the blue lion. Blue’s eyes weren’t looking at him though, and when Lance went to touch the forcefield, he only found resistance. Blue wasn’t his this time. 

Shiro and Adam respectably made their ways towards the forcefield. Together they pushed gently. Lance wasn’t shocked when Blue rose to open her maw, forcefield bleeding into non existence. That was Blue, always the drama queen, but this time not his Blue. At least two amazing pilots would be fleeing from the Galra.

Keith gave Lance a look to make sure he was okay before the stepped into the giant lion, following his sorta brother-ish parental guardians. 

Lance gave him a smile and a nod before following.

The interior was the same, except for where there was once one pilot seat, there were now two. Co-pilots - damn that was pretty cute. He absent mindedly listened to the group arguing about their plan, sparing comments when needed.

They all held on for dear life to the pilot chairs, and Lance to Jupiter, while they narrowly shot into space, avoiding the Galra. 

“So what now crew?”, Pidge said.

“Well what does Blue say,”, Lance chirped.

“She told me to trust her, should we?”, Adam responded.

“What do you think Taki, ready for an adventure?”

“I thought you would never ask,”

 

-

As they stood in front of the cyropods, nobody said anything. Even Jupiter, who was wrapped around Lance’s neck, didn’t offer a meow. Of all things, this is what gave Lance the biggest case of Deja Vu. He scanned his memories for the events the transpired when they first met the Alteans until an idea struck. 

“Pidge, is that a cyropod, like one of the space healing chamber things?”

“Ummm, maybe?”, she took a step closer to Allura’s pod. Perfect. The pod opened and out stumbled Allura, standing like a baby deer, eyes looking deep into Pidge’s.

“Uh, hello miss?”, offered Pidge.

“Your ears-”

“Uh yeah, they’re not pierced or anyth-”

“They’re hideous! Who are you? Who are all of you?” 

Seeing Allura alive was strange for Lance, he expected to miss her more, to feel more complete now that he was back in her presence, but no, standing next to Keith was where he belonged. Not to say he didn’t miss her at all, or that his sorta dead ex girlfriend standing in front of him wasn’t bat shit, because he did and it was. He half listened to them explain the situation to Allura, that they were catnapped by a giant blue lion and just happened to find themselves here. Allura scrambled to respond before remembering a more pressing issue,

“CORAN!”, she yelled as she ran to his pod. He quickly fell out, demonstrating a quick progression of martial arts before threatening them a little. 

Lance spaced out again, worried about telling Keith the truth, rhythmically petting Jupiter as he stressed. In front of him, Allura and Coran panicked over their 10,000 year sleep and Sendak’s arrival. Everything was different this time for Lance. He didn’t remember enough from each day to know how to change things without causing someone’s death or a travesty, he only knew what to do to keep Allura alive for awhile and Lance alone. The most disgruntling part was while some things were the same, others were completely different. Adam was alive, he had Jupiter, Allura wasn’t pissed at him, and Keith seemed to harbor affections. Everything that really mattered to Lance was different. 

At the mention of the Lions new Paladin, he pulled his head out of his ass again. Keith silently slipped his hands into Lance and gave a short squeeze to say, it’s okay, I’m here. He probably thought Lance was flipping about the space, alien, galra things and not the secret of his past.

“The blue lion has already chosen it’s paladins, Adam and Shiro you are her pilots. The blue lion represents loyalty and truthfulness. She only accepts a pilot who is adaptable like water, and resiliant like a storm. Her affinity for water is what ties you to her, the push and the pull of a tide and her moon, proved your devotion to both each other and her.”

Pidge made a gagging noise.

“The green lion is intelligent and curious. They are always searching for answers to questions that haven’t been asked yet and accept a pilot of equal caliber. Her paladin would cross oceans to protect the ones they love and in most cases have already gone through trials that have morphed their perspectives. Her affinities tie to technology and nature. Pidge you will pilot the green lion.”

She looked please at the notion of piloting the green lion. It certainly fit.

“The yellow lion is the heart. He is strong and caring, a protective force not to be trifled with. Their paladin is equally compassionate and while there actions are never fulfilled with the expectation of praise, they deserve it anyways. Hunk you will pilot the yellow lion, I can see your heart is pure.”

Being noticed for his compassion settled something deep within Hunk. Everyone’s gazes turned towards Lance and Keith, both itching to learn if they belonged.

“The red lion is a worthy advisorary. He is the right hand of Voltron, quick and calculating, passionate in every choice they make. While their decisions aren’t always the most sound, they are a necessary element to Voltron. Without the flame of love, the desire, of the red lion, what would we be fighting for? The paladin of the red lion is someone who has fought wars and won, someone who loves without reciprocation being needed, someone who loved with their whole being, Lance you will pilot the red lion.”

Lance gave Keith a cheeky smile, as Keith mouthed back “Passionate, Huh”.

“Keith you will pilot the black lion, the head of Voltron. Your life has been an uphill battle against both yourself and the world, yet you’ve come out on top. The black lion needs a paladin who is powerful and goal oriented, someone who can lean on others for support, while maintaining their position as leader. As the leader of Voltron you are capable of great things.”

Lance nudged Keith, mouthing “on top” with an eye wiggle, to which Keith simply steps on his foot. 

Everything was calm for a moment before the news of Sendak arrived. Lance had to suppress a groan. Repeating a year or two was going to be interesting.

Pidge and Hunk followed Coran, now panicking about the arrival of Sendak’s men. While everyone was rather jumpy, Lance just observed the mess he had created. Keith stayed silent next to him, a bit disconcerted.

“Well, if we are to protect the Arusians and ourselves then we’ve got to pick up the lions. Because the yellow lion is on a nearby planet, Adam and Shiro will take blue to help, there might be hostiles. Pidge, I’ll send you the coordinates for green, they’re on a planet only one system over so you should be able to get there in an emergency pod. Keith and Lance can come if you would be more comfortable not alone. Lance, we are still trying to locate the red lion, and Keith, black is in the castle but cannot be accessed without the other lions. Oh and before you leave, I have your bayards. Unfortunately the black bayard has been. . . misplaced, so Keith will have access to our armory.”

To insure Keith felt included, Lance leaned over to whisper, “Maybe you can grab a sword and kick my ass in training later,”

“So sure you’ll lose?”

“Have you seen your arms? Dude, lasting five minutes would be good as winning for me.”

“Lance, Keith, pay attention.”, from the floor a table of green, blue, yellow, and red bayards rose. Shiro and Adam gave each other a confused look, unsure of how their bayard would work out.

“I have my arm, so the bayard is all your, Adam.”, Shiro nudged his ex fiance towards the table. Adam just gave a confirming nod before grabbing the blue bayard. The bayard quickly transformed into a whip screaming with a lightning blue electric charge as it unfurled. 

“Kinky,”, Adam whispers.

The next to grab their weapon was Pidge, buzzing with curiosity. Quickly their weapon turned into a gun like object. She experimented with it by shooting a control board close to her. A tar like ink coated the surface, slowly drying to harden. Lance took a step back from her, remembering what happened last time he made fun of her weapon.

Hesitantly, Hunk picked up the yellow bayard. In the flash of a moment, a huge gun coated with arm, becoming a mecha like device that was symbiotic with the user. Friendly Hunk was definitely spook by this change of events, yet his eyes slid to Lance’s curiously.

Giving one last look to Keith, Lance took the red bayard with a grin. While his weapon first turned into an impressive sword, with a single slash it transformed into its sniper form. Lance tucked away the knowledge that he could still transform his weapon into the back of his mind. 

Keith looked impressed with Lance’s progress as his cheeks heated up. Just a little, mind you.

The paladins all broke apart, ready to find their lions, leaving Keith and Lance behind. Lance made the decision to explain what had happened before his guilt got worse, so he gave a nod to Keith to follow him, and took his hand as they walked the halls.

“If I told you something, would you promise not to hate me?”

“Is it something that will hurt other people?”

“Not really. . .”

“Then go ahead.”

Lance took a strained breath, refusing to meet Keith’s eyes. Jupiter snuggled in closer.

“I’ve lived this before.”

“What do you mean, like in a dream?”

“No like, three years into the future, I accidentally found a way to go back.”

“How do I know your telling the truth?”

“Pidge is a girl, Shiro is basically your brother, you meet your mom in space, you do great things Keith, I can tell you whatever you need to know.”

“If I do such great things, then why would you want to go back, did you. . .do bad things?”

“NO. . .no. . . it’s just the future for me isn’t very bright, the future for other people on this ship isn’t either. I guess after wandering Earth for a year, I just wanted to make better decisions? I really wasn’t seeking a way to go back, I wasn’t. I didn’t even think it would work.”

“I guess I could understand that, is it okay if I ask you what the bad thing that happened was?”

“Well, I fell in love with two people during my time in space, and one left me, and the other loved me for a short period before dying, and when I got back to Earth I couldn’t deal with the fact neither of them were around anymore.”

“Why would anyone leave you Lance?”

Lance took a shaky breath, stuttering out as he gave a despondent laugh, “You tell me, Keith.”

Keith stopped them, looking into Lance’s eyes, trying to find something. Anything.

“I really wouldn’t know Lance, I know I’m the same Keith, but maybe things are different this time around.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because I’m not leaving Lance, I’m sorry that he left, but I promise. . .that this time is different, why did I leave in the first place?”

“I told you that I didn’t have a place on the team, that I should leave so there would be more space for the others, I was going to go to the rebels maybe, I don’t know really.”

“Well then don’t do that, don’t leave, and I won’t leave. You stay, I stay. And if you do go, I’ll follow.”

“Why? You barely know me.”

“But I want to, I really really want to.”

“Even if I fall in love with you again?”

“Especially if you fall in love with me again.”

**Author's Note:**

> 3 years in the future:  
> \- Lotor is still alive and in love with Allura  
> \- Lance and Keith move back to Paris  
> \- Lance opens a cafe on the river with Keith  
> \- Keith meets his mom but doesn't do the space whale thing because Lance explains to him what had happened before  
> \- When the rest of the team find out Lance is from the future Pidge is pissed because Lance can't remember all the tech she invented  
> \- Lance and Allura remain friends because them dating was not a healthy relationship (Honestly canon was not a healthy relationship Lance spent a year pining after her with her laughing at his attempts before dating Lotor and then used him as a rebound because he was already in love with her, and then once she dies he dedicates the rest of his life to her???That is not a healthy relationship????)  
> \- Eventually Keith and Lance are able to create a daughter with their DNA in a lab on Earth, they name her Novia
> 
>  
> 
> :)


End file.
